Sunday, October 10, 2004
Blogging and Employment
There was an interesting article in the NY Times last week. [Annoying registration required, and they archive after a week.]
The topic was how blogging plays into the employment picture.
I have long known that what you blog is public, and if you're worried abut prospective employers/clients being put off by your writings, then you better make the effort to anonymize yourself. I've personally been contacted by recruiters that not only found my traditional CV materials online, but also my Personal Blog and other info about me by Googling me.
Google has become a great resource for recruiters to find references that really relate to a job applicant's fit for a job, from incidents of being published, to being quoted in the press etc.
But this article brings up another aspect of it altogether...the fact that prospective employees may look at blogs of people who work at a company...whether the blog is officially connected to the company or not, and find out more about a prospective employer. This can be positive for the company, and as you can well imagine, negative too.
It's nice for once to have something about job seeking be a two-way street.
But, the bottom line is: any company out there should be regularly ego-surfing. Find out what's being said about your company and your management. And any company out there should consider creating a blog for that company.
The job market will be heating up again, or so they tell me, and when it does, you will once again be in the position of trying to establish your company as a creative, forward-thinking place to work, with an attractive corporate culture. A blog can send you on your way to establishing and communicating your corporate culture, in a way that prospective hires can appreciate before they ever walk through your doors.
The topic was how blogging plays into the employment picture.
I have long known that what you blog is public, and if you're worried abut prospective employers/clients being put off by your writings, then you better make the effort to anonymize yourself. I've personally been contacted by recruiters that not only found my traditional CV materials online, but also my Personal Blog and other info about me by Googling me.
Google has become a great resource for recruiters to find references that really relate to a job applicant's fit for a job, from incidents of being published, to being quoted in the press etc.
But this article brings up another aspect of it altogether...the fact that prospective employees may look at blogs of people who work at a company...whether the blog is officially connected to the company or not, and find out more about a prospective employer. This can be positive for the company, and as you can well imagine, negative too.
It's nice for once to have something about job seeking be a two-way street.
But, the bottom line is: any company out there should be regularly ego-surfing. Find out what's being said about your company and your management. And any company out there should consider creating a blog for that company.
The job market will be heating up again, or so they tell me, and when it does, you will once again be in the position of trying to establish your company as a creative, forward-thinking place to work, with an attractive corporate culture. A blog can send you on your way to establishing and communicating your corporate culture, in a way that prospective hires can appreciate before they ever walk through your doors.
// posted by ElisaC @ 10:47 AM 
